The Doctor Never Loses
by Jed Rhodes
Summary: The Doctor and Martha are off to Iehmo Kei. The Doctor and Sophie are off to Barcelona. The Doctor and Rose are off to the Eye of Orion. What am I on about? Read on, and find out...
1. Doctor, Doctor, Doctor

Martha Jones and the Doctor stood on top of a hill, looking down into a field filled with sheep. It was a beautiful day, mildly cloudy, with a bracing wind breezing through the valleys.He was a tall, youngish man, dressed in a brown pinstripe suit. She was a twenty something woman, in a denim coat and jeans.

"Wow…" murmured Martha in awe.

"What's so 'wow'?" asked the Doctor, mild confusion in his voice. "They're only sheep."

"Yeah", said Martha, pointing to the hill behind them. A large door with roundels in it was embedded in it, and beyond that, the rest of the TARDIS. "Sheep. Inside your TARDIS."

"Well, what's wrong with that?" asked the Doctor, looking from her to the door, to the sheep, then finally back to her.

"Even if it is bigger on the inside…"

"Which I think we've established by now", interrupted the Doctor.

Martha glared at him, then continued softly.

"As I was saying, even if it is bigger on the inside, how can a spaceship have an ecosystem?"

The Doctor pondered this for a second, scratching his chin.

"The TARDIS is more than a machine, Martha, it's alive", he said at last. "Maybe it picked up an ecosystem, as an experiment?"

Martha stared at him. He often came up with nonsense like this.

"Sorry, that made no sense", she said. "Anyway, isn't there a ceiling up there?"

"Oh, probably," said the Doctor, looking up. "Must be a few hundred light years away."

"Sorry, you've lost me again," said Martha, shaking her head.

The Doctor grinned.

"Nothing I ever say makes sense, unless you listen in between the lines."

Martha shook her head again.

"You're mad", she said.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway," he said, turning to the door, "I think it's time for as trip."

He walked out the door, leaving Martha to follow him.

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They headed back to the console room, but the Doctor was as bad a navigator INSIDE the TARDIS as he was flying it.

They ended up in a small white walled room.

It took Martha a couple of minutes to realise that it was a TARDIS console room. It had roundels, and in the centre of this room, there was a small TARDIS console, hexagonal and utilitarian, with old fashioned levers and switches.

"Wow…" said the Doctor, looking around.

"What is this place?" asked Martha. "Some sort of spare control room?"

"Old console room. Control room two", the Doctor replied. "Closed for redecoration."

"Why?" asked Martha.

"I don't like the colour", replied the Doctor, airily.

He walked to the console and brushed his fingers against the panels.The console hummed to life, lights coming on, and then, to Martha's amazement, the colour started shifting, almost imperceptibly, from a bright white to a light green.

The Doctor laughed and clapped his hands together.

"I like it", he said, grinning.

He turned to Martha, who was staring at the room in wonder.

"Shall we stick around?" he asked.

Martha smiled, and nodded.

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Later, in the small TARDIS console room, the Doctor was considering their next destination.

"Barcelona? No. Gordafra? No. Lock-tar Morakai? Good God no."

"Any luck?" asked Martha.

"None. I can't think of a single place to take you…"

His face suddenly lit up. he jumped around the console, pushed a few buttons, pulled three levers at once - including one with his teeth - and pushed a big red button.

"Ieh-mo Kei!" he yelled.

"Bless you", said Martha.

"No, Ieh-mo Kei the holiday resort!" said the Doctor. "It's perfect! Sun, sand, sea's, sun…"

"You already said sun", said Martha.

"There's two", replied the Doctor. "Perfect place to top my tan up!"

"You have been looking kinda pale," smiled Martha. "Some sun and fresh air, might be good for you..."

"Doctor's orders?" he asked, deadpan.

She smiled and laughed.

"Then it's settled!" yelled the Doctor.

He set the controls, and they were off.

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Wembley stadium roared in appreciation for the singer. He was singing the best of the Smiths, and clearly loved every minute.

He was youngish, in a silver suit set off with black pinstripes, and he wore black converse trainers.

The Doctor was having the time of his lives.

He sang his hearts out for these people, knowing that they would remember forever 'Johnny Smith, tribute artist' as the man who had started off the 2278 London Olympics.

"#The most impassionate song to a lonely soul is so easily outgrown…" he sang.

He finished the song, and looked at the audience.

"This next one is not a Smiths song, but it's one that's close to my heart."

He took a breath, and then the music started.

"#Well, I've roamed about this Earth with just a suitcase in my hand…"

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The Doctor ran for the TARDIS, grinning broadly. He had loved every second of that, and the audience had too, thank goodness.

He came up to the TARDIS, but stopped, his face turing from happy to slightly scared in the blink of an eye.

A young woman in a t-shirt and jeans was standing in the doorway, a look of mock impatience on her face.

"Finished?" she said in an exasperated tone.

"Yep", said the Doctor, grinning.

Sophie Munro shook her head. This man was both infuriating and adorable, but his habit of singing Smiths songs was getting worse. Now he was gate-crashing sporting events, just to sing to a willing audience.

She had met him a while ago, when the school she'd been working as a Science teacher at was attacked by aliens. Since then, he'd regenerated, from a pleasent chap in Victoriana to a youngish man with a love of pencil thin suits,. The Smiths thing was something that had carried over from the other him.

"Then can we go? I seem to remember a promised trip to the planet Barcelona…"

The Doctor stopped grinning. He assumed a serious face.

"Barcelona, right. Let's go, then," he said, in a low, grim tone.

He ran into the TARDIS, Sophie following.

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The console room was a twelve foot high dome, with four Roman style pillars holding it up. The whole thing was sci-fi silver, decorated with golden yellow roundels.

At the centre of it all was a six sided consle, with golden levers and buttons and, oddly, a Dell laptop painted white. At the center of this console was a tall glass columm, with little glass tubes in it.

He pressed a button, pulled a lever, and typed the co-ordinates into the Dell laptop, which he had wired into the console.

"Barcelona," he muttered. "Right, then, co-ordinates 222 by 662, year 3972. Perfect."

His hand hovered over a big red button – a recent addition to the console, and he always hesitated before pressing it.

"Ready?" he asked.

Sophie held on to the console. The ride was always bumpy.

"Ready", she said.

The Doctor nodded, and pressed the button.

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"Eye of Orion. Lovely place, by any standards."

Rose Tyler nodded, sighing, because whatever happened, they'd go to the Eye of Orion, the place would be swarming with Daleks or some such thing, and they'd get into another adventure. Whoo - bleeding - hoo.

Rose and the Doctor were standing inside the TARDIS control room, which was a large dome-like structure in electric blue, with a gunmetal console in the centre.

This Doctor was a posh chap, with a stiff wing collar shirt, a sand coloured cravat, a brown Edwardian suit and smart shoes.

"No, really though. No indigenous life, no hostile life forms, no creatures at all. Just ruins, rest and relaxation.

Rose perked up. Maybe this wouldn't be a total waste. Rest and Relaxation? That she could deal with.

Travelling with the Doctor was alright, but one could get tired of getting threatened by alien beasties.

"OK Doctor, you've convinced me", she said, smiling. "Let's go."

The Doctor smiled as well, and set them off, pulling a great big lever with the woird "GO" written on it in big blue letters.

He turned to Rose, an inquisitive look on his face.

"Have you called your mother recently?" he asked.

"No", she said. It was rare that the Doctor took an interest in her mother.

"Well, I think you ought to", he said. "She'll be worried sick if you don't."

"Why do you care?" asked Rose, suspisciously.

"I don't fancy popping back to visit and having her slap me again", he said, his tone unconvincngly casual.

"Oh," she sighed in relief. "For a moment there, I thought you were taking an interest in my mother."

The Doctor looked at her, shock evident on his face.

"Good grief, no", he said, utterly appalled. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Rose smiled.

"So, what's the 'Eye of Orion' like anyway?" she asked.

"Like the countryside of England, the beauty of nature. Like Yorkshire."

"Oh. Doesn't sound like too much fun."

The Doctor thought she actually liked all that dangerous stuff. She travelled with him to see the universe, not to get killed by it.

"I'll admit, it isn't THAT much, but considering the DISASTER of New Earth, I'd rather go somewhere boring than somewhere filled with insane Cat Nurses and disease ridden Zombies."

Rose pretended to think about it, then nodded.

"You're right," she said.

The TARDIS made that horrible 'vworp vworp' noise that signalled that it had arrived.

"Ah, we're here", said the Doctor.

Rose put her coat on, and the Doctor pulled his grey cloak over.

"Shall we look outside?" he asked.

Rose looked at him.

"Well, duh," she said.

He smiled, and went outside. 


	2. Faction Paradox vs the Black Hole

The TARDIS landed on Ieh-mo Kei, fading into existence with the usual trumpeting.

The Doctor stepped out, followed by Martha.

"Lovely place, by anybodys standards", he said. He was dressed in shorts and a hideous hawaian shirt.

"Yeah…" said Martha, walking out behind him. She was dressed in a seventies style bikini she'd found in the TARDIS wardrobe.

Ieh-mo Kei was a beautiful place. It was like a cross between Scarborough and Miami.

"Come on then!" yelled the Doctor. "Last one to the beach is a knackered Dalek!"

They ran to the beach, the Doictor laughing his head off all the way.

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Three hours of sun, sand and surfing later, and Martha was a qualified surfer, the Doctor was a qualified 'dude', and they were both absolutely exhausted.

"Well, that was fun", said the Doctor.

"No kidding", said Martha. "Undersatement is one of your many skills, isn't it?"

"We should do this more often, you know," he said, giving no indication that he'd heard her. "I could get used to coming here."

"Me too", said Martha. "I'll just call my mum, tell her I'm OK."

He nodded, not really listening.

She took her phone out, and pressed the call button.

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The phone rang, and Francine picked it up, hoping it was who she thought it was.

"Hello?" she said, her voice faux calm.

"Hi, mum?" came the voice from the other end. "It's me, Martha."

"Martha? Where are you?"

"I'm... out. I'm just calling to say that I'm alright, and you shouldn't worry."

"Of course I worry. Your with him, I know it!"

"Mum..."

"He's dangerous, Martha!" Francine yelled. "This information comes from Harold Saxon himself, the Doctor, he's…"

In the background, Francine heard the Doctors voice, laughing and shouting something like 'surfs up dudes!'

"Sorry mum, I've got to go", said Martha. "We'll talk when I get home."

"Martha – Martha wait -!"

The line went dead.

'Oh Martha', thought Francine. 'Why don't you listen?! He's dangerous, to you AND us.'

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The Doctor splashed about in the sea, jumping, kicking diving.

"Come on in, Martha!" he yelled. "The water's fine!"

Martha laughed at him. He was totally insane, but she still loved him. Now, if only he'd notice that...

"Come on!" he yelled again.

She shook her head, and walked back up the beach, laughing even harder.

"Spoilsport!" she heard him shout.

She walked on, arriving at the refreshment stand at the rear of the beach.

"One ice cream, please", she asked.

The bloke got it, Martha paid him, and she looked over at the Doctor was.

Or rather, where the Doctor had been.

He was gone.

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He had been taken to a small dark room, tied to a chair, and now an armed man was standing over him.

The Doctor looked at the bloke with the gun, and smiled.

'Best not to irritate him', he thought. 'He might prove to be... volatile.'

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

"That is need to know information, and you don't need to know", came the reply, surly and annoyed.

"You kidnap me and aim a gun in my face, and I don't need to know who you are?" asked the Doctor, incredulously, completely forgetting not to antagonise the armed bloke.

"Precisely", said the man, who aimed the gun closer to the Doctor's head to illustrate his point.

'Right', thought the Doctor. 'His logic is off, but he HAS got a gun. Best to move on.'

"So what can I do for you?" he asked.

"We need you to give us your time machine."

The Doctor laughed.

"Oh, pull the other one!"

"Don't mock us, Time Lord!" snarled the man, shoving his gun in the Doctors face.

The Doctor stopped laughing.

"Why do you need my time machine?" he asked. The words 'Time Lord' had shaken him.

"Because it is critical to the great plan", said a voice from the shadows.

In an instant, the man with the gun stepped back, bowing to the newcomer.

A tall man with silver hair, in a white robe.

"Who might you be?" asked the Doctor.

"I am the Father. We are Faction Paradox."

At that, the Doctor opened his eye's wide, looked upon the face of this 'Father', and in an instant knew what their plans were. He couldn't help but betray the slightest hint of loathing when he spoke.

"You're going to save Gallifrey. YOUR vision of Gallifrey."

"Yes, Doctor", said the Father. "Gallifrey will live again. With US at it's head."

"And that's why you need the TARDIS", continued the Doctor, horrified at the words he spoke. "Only the TARDIS can go there, of all the time machines in existence…"

"Yes, Doctor", said the Father. "So take us there."

"And if I don't?" asked the Doctor, defiantly.

"Then we kill your companion" said the Father, calmly.

The Doctor had no choice. He couldn't let Martha die. But he did have a plan.

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Martha waited at the TARDIS, silently, patiently, knowing full well that to wander off looking for him on an alien planet was silly.

When the Doctor finally returned, she ran to hug him, only for two dozen blokes in space costumes armed with laser guns to follow him in, and cover them both.

"Who are they?" asked a horrified Martha.

"Faction Paradox", came the reply from the Doctor, who was flicking switches.

"Who?" said Martha, confused.

"A major player in the war," said the Doctor. "A nasty bunch by all accounts."

"'A major player in the war'?" repeated Martha, increduosly. "All two dozen of them?"

"Do not mock us, woman", snapped the Father, angrily. "We have no qualms about killing…"

"Best do as they say, Martha", said the Doctor quietly. "I have a plan…"

He set the controls for Gallifrey. The old Gallifrey. At least, that's what the Father believed.

For a moment, he asked himself whether the Faction had the right idea… maybe he SHOULD help them bring Gallifrey back…

'A Gallifrey run by the Faction?' thought the Doctor. 'Better that they stay dead then the Faction rule them. Rassilon knows what they'd do to the Time Lords, or Time, for that matter.'

The TARDIS materialised exactly where it ought to have.

"Hold on to something, Martha", the Doctor mouthed. He flicked a small switch.

Martha nodded, and discreetly held on to the console.

The Doctor turned to the Faction.

"I never did introduce you to the gang, did I?" he said. "This is Martha, Martha, this is the Father."

"Get on with it Doctor", said the Father impatiently.

"And THIS…" said the Doctor, obliviously, "is a black hole."

He opened the TARDIS doors. A massive black hole, huge and gaping, opened up.

The members of the Faction were sucked out into the hole… or at least some of them were. The Father held on to the console, trying to aim his blaster at the Doctor, screaming blue murder…

Who pressed the close button.

All of a sudden, the black hole's pull was stopped. Martha held on to the console nonetheless, guessing the Doctors plan…

The Father let go of the console, and dropped to the floor.

The Doctor opened the doors again –

The Father was sucked out, screaming and firing his blaster wildly –

The Doctor shut the doors again.

Martha looked at the Doctor.

"That was scary", she said.

"Not nearly as scary as what would have happened if they had succeeded", replied the Doctor.

He set the controls back for Ieh-mo Kei again.

"I believe," he said, "that we have a holiday to finish."

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The TARDIS arrived, but when the duo stepped outside, it was pandemonium.

People were yelling, screaming, running, all over the place, running from the beach...

Obviously, the Doctor ran to the beach, weanting to know what was going on, Martha hot on his heels.

At the beach, they saw them.

Massive holes in existence, that were gradually increasing in size. They were the shape of parallelograms.

"What are they?" asked Martha, horror struck.

"They are the worst thing you could possibly imagine", said the Doctor grimly, watching them as they expanded.

"What?" asked Martha. "Can't be worse than Daleks, or Carrionites."

"It is, Martha", said the Doctor. "Null Time Rifts."

"What are they?" asked Martha, looking at the rifts with a mixture of fear and confusion.

"Exactly what it say's on the tin", said the Doctor.

The rifts were destroying whole cities on the horizon. When they touched people, the people would simply cease to be. As in, not even there. No remains, no bodies, nothing.

"Come on", yelled the Doctor. "Back to the TARDIS!"

* * *


	3. Nasty, Brutish and Short

The TARDIS materialised.

Sophie stepped out first, and found herself standing on a beautiful hill, windswept. It could have been the Pennines, except that the grass on the Pennines wasn't a dark shade of blue.

The Doctor stepped out behind her, a massive grin plastered on his face.

"BARCELONA!!!!!" he yelled excitedly right in Sophie's ears.

"Ow!" she yelled angrily. "Yell in my other ear so I go deaf in both, why don't you?"

"Sorry", he said sheepishly. "But just LOOK AT IT!"

It was beautiful, Sophie had to admit. Rolling plains, silver spires, beautiful forests...

But the illusion of peacefulness was shattered by a massive explosion that shook the ground. The Doctor and Sophie were knocked to the ground by the sheer force of it.

"What was that?!" yelled Sophie, confused and disoriented.

"Over the hill", replied the Doctor, all trace of joviality gone. "This way!"

They ran over to the top of the hill, and then they saw it.

Two massive armies of space soldiers, firing bolts of blazing death at each other.

"Sontarans…" muttered the Doctor.

The combatants were very different to each other.

One set were human, in blue space armour, and the other's were short, squat, and rather ugly, from what Sophie could see, dressed in black jumpsuit style clothing.

"What's going on?" asked Sophie, even more confused.

"The Sontaran invasion of 4028", the Doctor replied grimly.

"I thought you were aiming for 3972?" said Sophie, an accusatory tone setting in.

"I was. The TARDIS is getting unreliable in her old age."

"So what do we do?" she asked.

"Do?" he replied. "What do you mean 'what do we do?"

Sophie glared at the Doctor. He couuld be so thick sometimes.

"We arrive," she said, "the Son - whatchamacallits are invading and you don't think we should do something about it?"

"We don't need to. It's historical fact that the invasion was thwarted by the defenders", he said, using his 'web of time' voice that he only used when either quoting the Time Lords or regaling how fragile the web of time was.

"And you don't think it's even possible that that had something to do with you?" she countered.

The Doctor stared at her for a moment.

Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face.

He took her hand.

"Come on then!" he yelled.

They ran down to the battle.

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They arrived at a human defence point, where the Doctor used his psychic paper to get them in.

They breezed into the command bunker.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor" said the Doctor. "I'm a strategic adviser from high command."

"Alright Doctor", said a grizzled looking man. "I'm Colonel Carrigan, field commander. What can I do for you?"

"For a start, you can show me the position's of all your troops."  
Sophie stared at the Doctor for a moment. Sometimes, not very often, but sometimes, he proved that he really was nine hundred.

Carrigan indicated a holographic display, which showed the human troops as blue dots, and the Sontarans as red dots. The Doctor studied the holograph thoughtfully, his eyes following every little movement.

"I have an idea", he said at last. "Send your troops to THAT position, Colonel."

He pointed out a certain sector of the field, and Carrigan gave the order to send his troops to that position.

The reports came back fifteen minutes later, that with minimal loss the human defenders had secured the strategic point, though the Sontarans were fighting them every step of the way.

"Right", said the Doctor. "Now bring your artillery up there."

Carrigan gave the order, and the artillery moved into position.

"Now tell them to target sector 777-243.98", said the Doctor, who was still studying the holograph thoughtfully. "That should help you out."

The artillery reported the target lock. The Doctor waited a moment, and then...

"Fire."

The holograph suddenly changed. The red dots gave way, and the blue dots started gaining ground. The human forces quickly cleared out a full one hundred miles of Sontaran territory and re-took it.

"Where did you learn that?" asked Sophie.

"I studied tactics at Sandhurst, 2354", replied the Doctor. "Easy enough to grasp."

Then something happened on the holograph. The red dots launched an assault on the left flank of the human position, the thinnest, which slowly gave way under the attack, slowly, painfully.

"What are they doing?" asked Carrigan, shocked.

"Standard Sontaran tactic", replied the Doctor calmly. "Identify the thinnest part of the enemy battle line, and sweep it aside, before launching a massive strike on the enemies' unprepared flanks. Fortunately, I know how to counter it. Launch a surgical assault on this position."

He pointed at a small cluster of red dots on the holograph.

"What's so important about that cluster?" asked Carrigan.

"It's their command centre", replied the Doctor.

Carrigan ordered a surgical assault by artillery troops, but the shots couldn't get through.

"If we can't get our shots through, how can we destroy them?" asked Carrigan.

"If we can't destroy their command centre, then disabling it will have to do" said the Doctor. "I need you to hold them off, for just a little while, while I put my plan into action."

"What plan is that?" asked Carrigan.

"I dunno, I haven't come up with one yet", replied the Doctor. "I'm pretty certain it'll end in the Sontaran base going boom though."

He turned to Sophie.

"I can't ask you to come with me…" he began.

"You don't need to ask", she interrupted. "Last time I sat out a fight you ended up getting shot."

"And look where that got us, eh?" he finished, grinning.

He turned to Carrigan.

"One hour. Give me just one hour2, said the Doctor. "If I'm not clear by then, use a surgical airstrike, with everything you've got, and blow the place to kingdom come."

He took Sophie's hand.

"Shall we?"

They walked out of the bunker.

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Field Marshal Karg of the Sontaran army turned to the corporal that was standing to attention by the door of the control centre, a room dominated by a large battle computer.

"What do you want?" he asked irritably.

"Sir, there are a couple of prisoners, sir."

"Why haven't you shot them?" asked Karg.

"Sir, they insisted on seeing you."

'Must be the enemy leader, here to surrender' thought Karg.

"Very well", he said. "Show them in."

Instead of a sharply dressed pair of soldiers like he expected, Karg found himself facing a youngish humanoid with brown cranial fur, and an even younger humanoid with brown cranial fur and the differently shaped thorax that made it stand out as a 'female', as they were called.

"That's a Sontaran?" the female was whispering. "Looks like somebody cloned the Mitchell brothers…"

"What do you want, humanoids?!" barked Karg.

"Ah, hello!" said the male. "I'm the Doctor, this is Sophie, say hello Sophie."

"Hello", said the female.

"I am Field Marshal Karg of the glorious Sontaran army. What do you want?!" repeated Karg angrily.

"We want to discuss the terms for your surrender", said the Doctor. The tone of his voice made it quite plain that he was perfectly sincere.

"MY surrender?!" said Karg, barely able to keep himself from laughing. "I thought YOU were here to surrender!"

The Doctor started laughing, and Karg stopped.

"US surrender?!" he said at last. "We're winning, why would we surrender?"

Karg snarled.

"Your puny forces aren't winning. We have a superior battle plan."

"Which would be why you're resorting to a desperate tactic to win?" asked the Doctor.

"I'll admit, you're a truly worthy tactician, but you're not going to defeat us."

All this time, no-one had noticed Sophie. She had been quietly attaching a small device to the big computer in the corner. Now she stepped away.

"I think you'll find we've already won, Field Marshal", said the Doctor smugly.

"How so?" asked Karg. This would be good.

"By infiltrating your base, distracting you, and scrambling your battle computer!" yelled the Doctor in reply, before grabbing Sophie's hand and ducking.

Karg watched as the computer started sparking. One of the Sontaran guards tried to fix it but as soon as he touched it he was electrocuted.

"Nooooo!" yelled Karg. He tried to find the Doctor and his accomplice to shoot them dead, but they were already long gone.

He had no choice.

"Karg to all troops. We are instigating a tactical withdrawal. Pull back to the landing ships."

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The Doctor, Sophie and Carrigan watched the Sontaran landing fleet leave Barcelona.

"Thank you, Doctor, Sophie", said Carrigan. "We are eternally grateful to you."

"Don't mention it", said the Doctor. "All in a days work for us, eh Sophie?"

Sophie smiled, then looked up at the sky.

"Oh my God…" she gasped. "LOOK!!"

They looked up, and saw the fleet.

The ships were being sucked out of existence, by parallelogram shaped holes in existence…

"Null Time Rifts", said the Doctor grimly. "Worse than anything else in this universe."

"What are they?" asked Sophie.

"Holes in existence. In all existences."

"Can we stop them?" asked Sophie.

The Doctor looked right at her.

"We can damn well try."

He ran for the TARDIS, Sophie close behind.

"Goodbye Carrigan!" she yelled.

Carrigan could only watch as the two hero's of Barcelona entered a small blue box, which then disappeared with a horrible trumpeting sound.

"Good luck, Doctor", he said softly. 


	4. Eye of Disharmony

Rose followed the Doctor out, and was dismayed but hardly shocked by what she saw. A pair of blokes in space armour were aiming their guns at the Doctor, who politely raised his hands.

"Hello", he said, smiling, his tone of voice light. "I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

"We're the MSC", said one of the men. "This planet is a restricted area. Why are you here?"

"We came here to have a holiday", sighed Rose. "Not like _that's _ever going to happen."

One of the men aimed his gun at her, and cocked his head quizzically.

"Holiday?" he repeated, as if not believing either his ears or his voice.

"Yes. This is the Eye of Orion, isn't it?" asked the Doctor.

"It was", said the first man. "It's now a base for the glorious Terran empire!"

"Oh spare us the rhetoric", sighed the Doctor, who stopped smiling. "This is a neutral world, you can't just barge in and take over!"

"Well, we did," one of the troopers said.

"Yes, evidently", said the Doctor. "Would it be too much trouble for you to take us to your leader?"

The first trooper smiled menecingly.

"Why not?" he said. "The boss is probably eager to see you…"

He motioned with his gun for the Doctor and Rose to move ahead of him. The Doctor was smiling again.

"What are you so happy about?" asked Rose.

"I always like saying that!" the Doctor replied. Rose sighed.

* * *

Major General Jack Harkness was the commander of the Marine Space Corps presence on the Eye Of Orion, and a iron hard leader to boot. He was in his late thirties, with chiselled features and piercing eyes, and right now, he was studying the pair of intruders standing in his office. A youngish man, perhaps thirty two or thirty three, in an old Victorian suit, and an even younger girl, maybe nineteen, in jeans and a t-shirt. 

"Who are you people?" asked Harkness calmly. He never went of the handle unless he was provoked.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose", said the man. The girl smiled.

Harkness smiled back, showing pristine white teeth. "I'm Major General Jack Harkness. Mind explaining why you're here?" he asked them quite politely.

"We're here to have a holiday", said the Doctor, equally polite.

"I'm afraid that this planet has come under temporary new management", said Harkness. "The MSC is in charge, for now."

"Mind if I ask why?" asked the Doctor, inquisitively.

Harkness' smile disappeared.

"I do mind, Doctor."

He gestured to the guards, who grabbed the Doctor and Rose.

"I was only asking," the Doctor said, "no need to get nasty..."

"Take them to the holding cells", Harkness said, ignoring him. "I've always wanted to use the mind probe."

The guards dragged the Doctor and Rose away.

* * *

"So what do we do now?" asked Rose. 

The Doctor was standing by the door, pressing his ear to it.

"I have a plan, don't worry", he replied.

"Oh no, don't worry", snapped Rose, sarcasm dripping from her voice like a leaky pipe. "We've been captured by the macho military men from hell, they're going to torture us, and we don't even know WHY! No need to worry at ALL, Doctor."

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit", said the Doctor, unfazed. "And you're not very good at it, I might add – ah ha!"

He dashed from the door and shushed Rose.

The door opened, and a guard came in, his gun lax in his hands.

"Come on you two", he said. "I have orders to take you to the mind probe room."

The Doctor and Rose stood up, they walked past the guard – and the Doctor grabbed his arm, flipped him over, and knocked him out.

"Great!" said Rose. "Now what?"

The Doctor threw her the guards' gun.

"It's set to stun, so you can shoot the guards, keep 'em off my back."

And with that, he headed out of the door, before stopping and turning to her.

"I told you I had a plan," he said smugly.

Rose sighed, and followed him out.

* * *

That had been three minutes ago. And since then, the Doctor had broken through three doors, Rose had shot two guards, they had gotten to the doors of the command centre itself - 

And now they were pinned down by fire from about fifty guards, whose weapons were - the Doctor said - set to kill.

"Now what?" yelled Rose.

"I don't know, you're the one who watches Die Hard!" yelled the Doctor in reply. He was trying out a dozen codes a minute on the keypad.

Rose rolled her eyes. Then she jumped out. The Doctor wanted Die Hard, he'd get Die Hard.

She unleashed a hail of laserfire, that ripped through the guards, knocking dozens of them out and forcing the rest to pull back.

She ducked back into cover.

"That Die Hard enough for you?" she asked, smug as the Doctor was earlier.

He didn't reply, but Rose could see the smile. She smiled too – this would turn out alright.

The Doctor broke the last encription code, and they entered the command centre.

Harkness stood at the top of the massive structure, a small device in his hands.

"Hello, Doctor!" he called out. "Very impressive. You get here without killing anyone, and then you break at least a dozen encryption codes to break open the door."

"I pride myself on my ability to escape from detention cells", said the Doctor.

Harkness smiled.

"Well I bet you weren't expecting this," he said, and he pressed a button on the device that he held.

Rose was instantly transmatted to Harknesses side, and he grabbed her and held a gun to her head.

"Now, I think we're on better speaking terms," Harkness said, smiling.

"Let her go!!" yelled the Doctor, who was too shocked to thik of a plan.

"Lets talk, Doctor", said Harkness. "Lets talk about WHY YOU'RE REALLY HERE."

"I told you, we're here on holiday -" said the Doctor.

"LIAR!!" yelled Harkness. "Tell me why you're here, or she dies!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT ME TO SAY!!!" yelled the Doctor, tears in his eyes. He dropped to his knees. "I don't know why YOU'RE here, so I don't know what the hell it is I'm supposed to be looking for in you're twisted reasoning, and I DON'T CARE! Just LET ROSE GO!"

Harkness looked at the Doctor, the Doctor who was abasing himself beofre Harkness' eyes. And he let Rose go.

"No one's that good an actor," he muttered. "Go back to your boyfriend, kid."

Rose ran for the Doctor, arms out stretched to hug him…

But she never got close.

At that point, almost in slow motion, a Null Time Rift opened, parallelogram shaped as ever, engulfing Rose and half the command centre. The force of it opening threw the Doctor to the floor.

Harkness ran to him, dodging the rift and ignoring the screams of his dying men.

"What the hell is it?!" he yelled.

The Doctor was too stunned to speak. She couldn't be gone, she just couldn't be...

"Doctor – Doctor, snap out of it!" yelled Harkness, slapping him around the head.

The Doctor slapped him back.

"A Null Time Rift", the Doctor said. "A hole in space and time…"

His voice trailed off, just for a second, and then, miraculously, he stood to his feet, and grabbing Harkness by the arm, he dragged him to the base's exit.

* * *

They ran to where the TARDIS stood. 

"What exactly are Null Time Rifts agin?" asked Harkness, who was more than a little confused.

"Holes in space time", said the Doctor. "They are the final harbingers of the end."

"The end of what?"

"Everything", said the Doctor. He opened the TARDIS door, and looked at Harkness with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"You weren't experimenting with this sort of thing, by any chance?" he asked. His tone was perfectly even, but strained, as if he was breaking.

Harkness shook his head. This was nothing like what he was working on.

"We were experimenting with the atmosphere", he said. "The positive ions, if harnessed, could prevent civil unrest on countless worlds in the Empire."

The Doctor visibly relaxed.

"Well, it's a bit immoral," he said lightly, "but you didn't cause THIS with you're experiment."

He indicated the sky, which was filled with the Rifts.

"So now what?" asked Harkness.

"I sort this out, save the universe, and maybe even save Rose", said the Doctor. He turned to enter his TARDIS.

"Oh no…" said Harkness. "I'm coming with you!"

"What?" said the Doctor.

"These Rifts threaten the Empire, and as the only representative OF said Empire, I've got to go with you!"

The Doctor was too drained to argue, so he merely nodded.

Harkness entered the TARDIS, followed by the Doctor. If anyone had still been alive at this point to witness the TARDIS' departure, they would have heard the following exchange from the open doors.

"It's… it's…"

"Yes, yes, bigger on the inside, moving on swiftly. Sit there and shut up."

Then the doors shut, and the TARDIS dematerialised.


	5. Death of a Hero

The Doctor ran around the console, frantically pressing buttons, turning wheels and pulling levers, with his hands, his feet, and his teeth.

"So what can we do?" asked Martha, not entirely sure what was going on.

"No idea", replied the Doctor, which was a rare response from him. "I think I know where and when to go though."

"Where are we going then?" queried Martha, gearing herself up for somewhere unpleasant.

"The Beginning. The End", said the Doctor. "The place whose destruction led to the creation of life in countless universes."

"Where?" Martha asked, confused by all the Doctor's lyricism.

"The first ever universe," the Doctor informed her. "Further back in time then I or anyone else has gone. Ever."

"Why do we need to go there?" Martha asked, slightly dazzled by his description.

"Simple", said the Doctor. "The first universe's destruction was caused, so the story goes, by the Null Time Rifts. So we go back there, to see why the Rifts are attacking OUR universe."

"So we can stop them!" finished Martha, getting the gist of what he was saying.

"Exactly!" confirmed the Doctor. "Ooh, you're getting the hang of this, Martha!"

She smiled.

* * *

The Doctor ran around the console. He pressed buttons, turned wheels and pulled levers, desperately steering them towards their – as yet unknown to Sophie – destination.

"So what can we do?" asked Sophie, scared by the thought of everything she knew ceasing to exist.

"I don't know", said the Doctor, which scared Sphie even more – rare was the time when this Doctor didn't know something. "I really, really, don't know. But we can do something when we get there."

"Where is 'there'?" asked Sophie, confused.

"The Beginning. The End", said the Doctor. "The place whose destruction led to the creation of life in countless universes."

"Eh? Where would that be?" asked Sophie, not understanding what the hell he was babbling about.

"The first ever universe," he clarified. "Further back in time then I or anyone else has gone."

"Why do we need to go there?" she asked.

"The first universe's destruction was caused, so the story goes, by the Null Time Rifts", said the Doctor. "So we go back there, to see why the Rifts are attacking OUR universe."

"And then we stop them?" asked Sophie.

"Yes", confirmed the Doctor, "once I've figured that bit out…"

* * *

The Doctor ran around the console. He pressed buttons, flicked switches and pulled levers.

"So what can we do?" asked Harkness, while staring around the very… surprising interior of the Doctor's ship.

"I haven't got a definite plan, but I should have one by the time we get there", replied the Doctor.

"And where would that be?" Harkness queried. "I can't help you if I don't have the intel."

"The Beginning. The End", said the Doctor. "The place whose destruction led to the creation of life in countless universes. The first ever universe. Further back in time then I or anyone else has gone."

"Sounds interesting", said Harkness dryly.

"I wouldn't know", said the Doctor. "I never paid too much attention to the stories."

* * *

"But what exactly are the Null Time Rifts?" Martha wondered.

"Massive gaps in reality, like I said," replied the Doctor, pressing another button while the ship juddered around. "The Rifts are nothing. Literally nothing. Eventually, in the First universe, the Rifts led to the creation of the void, as well as the billions of parallel universes."

"CAN we stop them?" Martha asked. "I mean, if they're as powerful as you say…"

"The Null Time rifts only ever affected the First universe, and no others after", said the Doctor. "The end of our universe is caused by entropy, not these… things. That means that it's not a natural process, and THAT means we can stop it."

* * *

"But what exactly are the Null Time Rifts?" asked Sophie.

"Massive gaps in reality, like I said," replied the Doctor, to her questions. "The Rifts are… nothing. Literally nothing. Eventually, in the First universe, the Rifts led to the creation of the void, as well as the billions of parallel universes."

"Can we stop them?" she whispered, suddenly realising the ramifications of not doing so. "I mean, if we don't..."

"Then reality goes bye-bye. But don't worry. The Null Time rifts only ever affected the First universe, and no others after", said the Doctor. "It isn't a natural process, so it CAN be stopped."

* * *

"But what exactly are the Null Time Rifts?" asked Harkness.

"Massive gaps in the fabric of reality," replied the Doctor. "The Rifts are nothing. Literally nothing. Eventually, in the First universe, the Rifts led to the creation of the void, as well as the billions of parallel universes."

"Can we stop them?" he asked. "I mean, if we can't, then the universe..."

"Will be utterly destroyed. But I wouldn't worry. The Null Time rifts only ever affected the First universe, and no others after", said the Doctor. "It isn't a natural process, so it CAN be stopped."

"You talk like you do this for a living", said Harkness.

"I do", replied the Doctor, with a grim smile.

* * *

The Doctor stood in his console room.

He was a different Doctor to any of the others, and at this point in his life, he was travelling alone, quite happily. He wore green corduroy trousers, a green polo shirt, and a green jacket, set off by white loafers.

He pressed another button, and whistled to himself. Life was extraordinarily good to him. He decided to go to Earth. Pop in to see the Brigadier, halt an alien invasion or two...

And that's when the alarms went off. The console started sparking, the walls began imploding inwards… the Doctor ran around his console, trying to get the scanner to work.

"Come on… I need to see what's out there!" he yelled to his dying ship. Then the TARDIS showed him.

Null Time Rifts, hundreds of them, surrounded him in the vortex. And if the vortex was infected, then the rest of the universe was already dying. The Brigadier, Rose, Sarah…

The Doctor knew he was doomed, but he wasn't going to die without a reason. He closed his eyes – he could already feel himself ceasing to be as the niothingness took him – but it wouldn't claim him yet. He made his move.

* * *

"We're getting as message…" said the Doctor.

"What kind of message?" asked Martha, concerned that this was going to be another problem.

"A TARDIS message", said the Doctor, his face showing all the disbelief he felt.

He pressed a button on the console, and a face came up on the scanner screen.

The Doctors face.

"Oh my God", said Martha in shock. "That's you!"

"Quiet Martha," he hissed, "this must be important. He's sending this through every TARDIS on the same wavelength as his own, that must be every Doctor in every universe…"

"Ahem. Hi", said the Doctor on screen. "By the time you're receiving this message, I'm probably dead. I'm transmitting this message on all frequencies, to every universe."

* * *

"I hope my death will not be in vain, and to insure that, I have gathered as much information as I can on the Null Time Rifts, using every scanning device I have, and have figured out their origin. And who's causing them."

The Doctor on screen sighed, and shook his head sadly. Sophie opened her mouth to ask a question, but the Doctor shushed her.

"No point talking, it's a recording," he said sadly. "He's already gone." Sophie considered telling him that she wanted to ask her own Doctor a question, not the guy on telly, but decided against it.

"As far as I can tell, it's not just my universe that has been affected, it's every universe. All time, all space."

The Doctor on screen took a breath.

"Hard as it may be to believe what I am about to say, you must. The Rifts originate from the first universe."

Sophie's Doctor sighed and put his head in his hands.

"There by the grace of Rassilon go I", he muttered.

"Therefore, you must understand that the person who's causing these Rifts…"

* * *

"…must be a foe of unimaginable intellect and power."

The Doctor nodded at this. Harkness wasn't getting any of this at all.

"It only makes sense I suppose. But WHO…"

"I have a theory," the screen Doctor continued, "but this theory means that to STOP him, we must sacrifice al our qualms, all our dignity. This will be the greatest test of us all."

"I don't care the cost, just TELL ME who's responsible for this", said the Doctor standing next to Harkness.

"I believe our foe to be..." a sigh, and then "the first universes Doctor."

* * *

The Doctor stepped back from the screen.

"What?" the Doctor said, ignoring Martha's shocked stare. "How can it be…"

"Think about it, Doctors", said the Doctor on screen. "If our universe was dying, wouldn't we do everything in our power to save it, even at the cost of every other universe?"

The Doctor on screen smiled grimly.

"I know I would", he said. "So, we must effectively defeat ourselves here."

Martha turned to the Doctor.

"How can YOU be the cause of this?" she asked, appalled. "You wouldn't…"

"I… I don't know…" he replied. Obviously, it shocked him as much as anyone else.

"I know it's hard to believe, but we must pull ourselves together here lads."

* * *

Sophie's Doctor stood calmly, absorbing the idea that it was HIM – or at least, a version of him - that was the cause of the destruction.

"And we must all remember, it isn't US that's causing the destruction here, it's him."

The Doctor nodded his head once, grimly.

"Not me, him," he murmured.

The Doctor on screen smiled grimly.

"Stopping him won't be easy. He's got all our determination, all our guile, and he's got the same motivation as us, but understand this. Together we can beat him. It's been a pleasure, gentlemen."

The screen faded to black. The Doctor took a breath.

* * *

"Well Harkness, this will be difficult," he said simply.

"Jack", said Harkness. "My name is Jack."

"Pardon?" asked the Doctor. "What does that matter?"

"If we're going to save the universe together," the Major General said, "I'd prefer you called me Jack."

The Doctor smiled, at the mans' touching display of friendship – despite the fact that it was partially his fault that Rose was gone.

"Alright Jack", he said. "I'm afraid we're not going to be saving the universe together though…"

The Doctor pinched Jacks neck before he could respond, and he collapsed in a heap.

"I'm not losing anyone else today", said the Doctor quietly. He considered the man a friend too, though he didn't know why. Probably a destiny thing.

The time rotor slowed, indicating that the TARDIS had arrived at it's destination.

"Ah", said the Doctor. "We've arrived."

He picked a hat off the hat stand in the corner next to the door, and walked out to face the darkness.

The door closed behind him, slowly.


	6. Dust and Ashes

The TARDIS materialised on a planet in the First Universe.

The Doctor and Martha stepped out to get a good look at their surroundings. It was a bleak, hellish wasteland. Windswept hills, plains of dust and death, lightning in the sky. Hell, almost literally.

"Cheery place, isn't it?" quipped Martha.

"These are the last days of this universe, Martha", said the Doctor. "This is all that is left of this whole universe. Dust and ashes."

"Pleasant", Martha commented dryly. "And you're around here somewhere…"

Ignoring her, the Doctor started walking in a random direction.

"Where are you?!" he yelled desperately.

Martha ran up to him, worried by his rather strange behaviour.

"I don't think he can hear you", she said, soothingly.

"I'm not yelling for him", said the Doctor. "I'm yelling for the others."

Even as he spoke, two figures appeared on the horizon, and quickly got to them Another Doctor, and a girl Martha didn't recognise.

"Hi", the girl said. "I'm Sophie, and that's the Doctor…"

"I'm Martha," Martha replied, "and that's the Doctor too…"

The two Doctors ignored their companions, and stared at each other intently in telepathic communion. And then they broke off, and grinned almost simultaneously.

"Right", started Martha's Doctor. "Since we're agreed…"

"Oi!" came a yell from behind them. "What about us?!"

The two Doctors turned to stare in the direction of the yell, as did their companions.

"My… God…" said Martha quietly.

"I second that", said Sophie. "And put forward the motion to add bloody hell…"

There were hundreds and hundreds of Doctors, some alone, some with companions. Some of the Doctors were in suits, some in jeans, and there was even a Doctor in a Tarzan outfit at the back.

"Well, at least we have the advantage of numbers", said Martha's Doctor dryly.

* * *

The Doctor looked around. He was in an old laboratory. Bleak and dead, just as he'd expected from the end of a universe, but not empty. An old man was staring at him. He wore a pinstripe suit, but it was old, faded, worn.

"Who are you?" he asked, suspicion and venom in equal measure in his voice.

"I am the Doctor," the Doctor replied simply. "And I believe you are, too."

The First Doctor stared at his counterpart.

"What are you doing here?" he asked finally.

"I've come to try and convince you to stop this", said the Doctor.

The First tutted and rolled his eyes.

"Well of course," he mumbled. "Not caring about the trillions upon trillions of people in my universe that I have to save, you've come here to stop me by… what? Using the power of reason?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"I wouldn't try and do that. I'm just going to appeal to your better nature. Everything dies, you know that," he said. "Planets, stars, even whole universes. We must accept that. All of us."

"I can save my Universe!" yelled the First. "I will not be dissuaded."

"No", said the Doctor. "You can postpone it's destruction, but it will die anyway. One way or another."

"I can't give up", sobbed the First. "I won't!"

"I know you don't want to admit it, but you can't win this fight", said the Doctor.

"No," the First said, venom pouring into his voice again. "I can most definitely win this fight, if I only take you out of the equation."

"What?" said the Doctor, puzzled.

The old man shook with determination.

"I will not give up!" he yelled. "Though I may fail, the universe will remember that the Doctor died to save his Universe from the Darkness!"

The First raised his sonic screwdriver.

"That isn't a weapon," the Doctor said, confident that he knew himself well enough.

"I wouldn't be so sure," the First replied. "I learned a lot from the Master."

He shot his younger counterpart, and the Doctor fell to the floor in agony.

"No…" he managed to say. "This isn't the way…"

The First stared down at him, sorrow plain on his face. He was actually sorry for this, that was the worst thing. Megalomaniacs you know want to cause harm – but the First was doing this for a good cause.

"No", he said, as the Doctor slipped into unconsciousness. "It is the ONLY way."

* * *

The many hundreds of Doctors had decided to split up. The better to find the First, they thought.

Martha and her Doctor had ended up with a Doctor in a t-shirt, jacket and jeans (the t-shirt bore the legend "Darth Vader was framed"), and a girl by the name of Veronica.

"I think that the other us was way off", said 'Darth Doctor' as Martha thought of him. "You know, the one in the message."

"How so?" asked Veronica.

"Well", said Darth Doctor, "I personally could never destroy a whole omniverse, just to save one universe, and I think my counterpart here thinks the same, so how a version of me, ANY version of me could do it, is beyond me."  
Martha's Doctor merely shrugged, and looked around.

"You never know what you're capable of", he said. "None of us who went through a Time War thought we were capable of…"

"Well," Darth Doctor interrupted him, "I didn't go through a Time War, whatever that is, and I'm glad of it."

Veronica pulled Martha aside while the Doctor's talked.

"Is your Doctor always such a wet blanket?" she asked. "He's so… down and gloomy all the time."

Martha was quite annoyed about that. How dare this girl – or this other Doctor – be so rude and inconsiderate to hers? How dare they?

"I don't know, is yours always such an arrogant tosser?" she replied, venom lacing her voice.

Veronica stood back, obviously stunned by Martha's outburst.

Then they were both distracted by a yell from one of the Doctors.

They ran to the Doctors, and found them staring at a small blue box, shabby and dust covered. The writing at the top was so worn you could barely tell what it said.

"A TARDIS…" said Darth Doctor, quickly.

"His TARDIS", said Martha's Doctor grimly.

"What do we do?" asked Veronica. Martha couldn't help but roll her eyes at the girls idiocy.

"I don't know" said Darth Doctor. "I really don't."

"We do something", said Martha's Doctor. "And you're all talk, mate."

The Doctors walked up to the TARDIS, and they both put their hands against it.

"She's…" started Darth Doctor.

"…cold", finished Martha's.

"What's wrong with it being cold?" asked Veronica. "It's cold weather out."

"If it's cold", said Martha's Doctor, "it's dead."

"Of course!" said Darth Doctor. "TARDIS' are normally powered by the universe, and this universe is almost dead!"

"So his TARDIS is dead as well…" Martha's Doctor completed.

"What about our TARDIS'?" asked Martha. "If they're powered by the universe…"

"I modified the TARDIS after my last out of universe experience", said Martha's Doctor. "It won't run out of power for weeks yet."

"And mine is still linked to the great Eye of Harmony", said Darth Doctor. "And that power source that can never be depleted by anything."

The Doctors looked at each other.

"He can't be far", said Darth Doctor, grinning.

"We'll find him", said Martha's Doctor. He wasn't smiling at all. "And we save our universes."

They walked off in the same direction, and their companions followed.

* * *

Sophie's Doctor was accompanied by the Doctor from the universe right next to his. As such, the two were quite similar, except that the other Doctor wore a dark blue suit. They both travelled with a version of Sophie.

They had started referring to themselves as "Doctor 1" (Sophie's Doctor) and "Doctor 2" (the Other Doctor), so the two Sophie's did the same, Sophie One and Sophie Two, matched up with the right Doctor's. Sophie 2 had dyed red hair. Sophie found it rather odd talking to herself, but once you got over the face, it was actually quite fun...

Doctor 1 sniffed the air thoughtfully.

"Well", he said, after a moment, "the trouble with having hundreds of Doctors on a planet is that you can't smell any one Doctor."

"Yeah", said Doctor 2, nodding, also sniffing thoughtfully.

"You can smell this universes Doctor?" asked Sophie 1. "That's a bit weird."

"No we can't", replied Doctor 2, "but I could if there weren't so many other Doctors."

Doctor 1 suddenly stopped.

"Ah", he said. "It might be a good idea to run."

"Why?" asked Doctor 2.

"Because unless I'm way off," he said, "behind us are three rather large and rather hungry creatures."

The group turned slowly, dreading what they were going to see.

There were three of them all right. Big, hairy and nasty, with sharp teeth and red eyes, slavering at the group and snarling like rabid dogs…

"Right", said Doctor 1. "Everyone RUN!!"

* * *

The Doctor woke up, joints still aching.

"Wh – what?"

The First was standing over him, using his screwdriver to make final adjustments to his computer console.

"Oh you're awake, are you?" he said. The Doctor nodded, and the First smikled kindly. "I'm sorry I had to do that", he said. "But you left me no option."

The Doctor realised that he was tied to a chair.

"What are you doing?" he asked the First.

"Completing my plan", said the First. "I am going to hyper regress the entire universe, using the potential energy of the end of yours. Rather like those Weeping Angels. At any rate, the Hyper regression will cause the universe to last for all time."

"What? NO!"

"Oh please don't make this any harder than it already is", said the First. "I don't want to do this, but to save my universe, I must!"

The Doctor could only watch as the First pulled a lever, and the end of the omniverse began…


	7. One man against the Omniverse

The machine hummed with power, crackled with energy, as it prepared to devour existence.

"No!" yelled the Doctor, tied to a chair. He had never felt so helpless in all his life, except when Rose had died...

Rose. He would see her again. Perhaps that made it worthwhile - no. That line of thinking would end up with him being like the First Universes Doctor. That he could not allow himself to do.

"Yes!" yelled the First triumphantly, waving his hands in a display of sheer joy.

The machine hummed ever louder, crackled even more, and prepared to unleash the energy it stored –

And then it calmed down, slowly quieting, the power dissipating, the hum fading and then, it was still...

"No!" yelled the First, banging his fist on a table.

"Yes!" yelled the tied up Doctor, eyes widening in disbelief. What could have -?

From behind the machine stepped the Doctor, Martha Jones, Darth Doctor and Veronica. The Doctor and Darth Doctor were grinning widely, Martha was smiling, and Veronica looked bemused.

"Sorry about that", said the Doctor to the First, his grin fading slightly as he spoke, "but blowing up a whole omniverse is against my principles, and so is letting people do it. Usually. Your the obvious exception."

"Don't meddle in things you know nothing about!" yelled the First, angrily. "You have no idea -"

"But I do", said the Doctor, sadly. "I know exactly why you're doing this. But you can't be allowed to."

"I must!" shouted the First, gesticulating wildly. "If I don't, this universe dies!"

"This universe is already dead", pointed out Darth Doctor unkindly. "This whole planet is dust."

The First glared at him like he was an idiot, then took a deep, calming breath.

"Well, of course _this_ planet is dust", he said, irritably. "That's why I chose it. But the rest of my universe is alive, and well."

Martha looked at the Doctor - _her_ Doctor. He just looked back at her, sheepishly.

"Oops?" he ventured.

Darht Doctor, however, looked grim.

"And how long have you been here mate?" he asked. "A hundred years? A thousand?"

The First looked right at him, and if looks could kill, Darth Doctor would have been a steaming pile of ashes at that point.

"I have been here," the First said, "five hundred and thirty three years, ten months, two weeks, six days, five hours, forty two minutes, six seconds and counting."

The old man stood up to his full, considerable height.

"I will not be bossed around by a bunch of self righteous, arrogant young people", he spat, his ees narrowed in contempt. "I was saving my universe when you're atoms were floating about the cosmos! I've earned something, I think."

He quickly pressed a button on his control panel. The hum of a transmat device began.

"You cannot save this universe", insisted Darth Doctor.

"I can", replied the First, his voice a yell, "and I WILL!"

He faded away, as the transmat beam finished its cycle.

The Doctors sprang into action as son as he'd gone. Martha's Doctor started scanning the immediate area. Darth Doctor ran up to the Doctor tied to a chair to free him, and, having done that, the two of them set to work on the First's control panel.

"Got him!" said Martha's Doctor.

"How so?" asked Darth Doctor.

"I know where he's transmatted himself to", replied the Doctor.

"Where?" asked Veronica, who had been rather worried looking during the Doctor's exchange.

"The other side of the planet."  


* * *

--  
The two Doctors and the two Sophie's ran for there lives, the creatures right behind them, snarling and slavering.

"This sort of thing can get very wearing", puffed the Doctor - Sophie didn't know which one.

Doctor 1 stopped, all of a sudden, and took out his sonic screwdriver. The creatures were only a few metres behind them at best.

"What good will that do?!" yelled Sophie 2, as the monsters got closer.

"This", said the Doctor. He zapped the creatures, who stopped in their tracks, then turned on their heels and ran away.

"High pitched sonic wave," Doctor 1 explained. "Hurts anything with level five hearing like hell."

"Fantastic!" said Doctor 2. "But now what do we do?"

"Keep searching for this universes Doctor", said Doctor 1. "He can't be far."

And so they walked off.

This planet was very small, 'only 30 or so square miles', the Doctor's estimated, 'more of a planetoid, really', and the small group had been walking for hours upon end, when finally they found it.

A massive building, large and foreboding, with a version of the seal of Rassilon printed large on it's side.

"Well, he's certainly made his mark on the scenery, hasn't he?" said Doctor 2 dryly.

The two Doctors and their companions headed for the building.  


* * *

--  
The Doctors finished fixing the control panel.

"Right", said Darth Doctor smugly. "I think that's got it. You should be able to follow him now."

The other two Doctors walked to the other side of the room, followed by Martha.

"And why can't they come with us?" she asked, indicating Darth Doctor and Veronica.

"Because he has to keep an eye on the transmat device", said Martha's Doctor. "We have to be sure that the First universes Doctor doesn't come back here."

"Ready, people?" asked Darth Doctor.

"Ready as ever!" said Martha.

Darth Doctor smiled at that, then pressed a button on the panel.

Within moments, Martha felt as though her guts were being turned inside out. She couldn't see, she couldn't breath... then it was over.

They were in a dark room. The Doctors were already exploring the place, looking around.

"Wait for me", said Martha, feeling very ill.

The Doctor turned to look at her. HER Doctor, not the other one (who she decided to call Sherlock Doctor).

"You alright?" he asked, concerned.

"Fine", she replied, "apart from the fact that I'm sick to my stomach."

The Doctor nodded. "First time transmat," he explained. "Always the worst."

"Less chatter you two!" called Sherlock Doctor. "I know where we are now."

He opened the door, and a light shone through.

"Broom cupboard", he said. There was even an old K-9 in there, albeit one which bore several differences to the design Martha's Doctor knew.

They walked out of the cupboard, and started searching for the First.

* * *

The First, meanwhile, was pressing buttons on his control panel, and thinking about all his counterparts had said.

'Am I doing the right thing?' he thought to himself. 'Am I really?'

He knew full well that he would save his universe by doing this, but he also knew the price the others would have to pay.

He was interrupted from his musings by the voices of other Doctors from his corridor. He tensed himself.

A pair of Doctors in suits walked into the room, accompanied by a pair of young women. On closer inspection, they appeared to be the saame young woman, from serperate universes. He remembered someone like her, but he couldn't quite place from when he remembered her. Oh well.

"Hello", said one of the Doctors. "You must be the First universes Doctor."

"I am", replied the First tersely. "I suppose that you're here to try to convince me to abandon my plan?"

"Well, yes..." said Doctor 1.

"Well don't bother", snapped the First. "I've made up my mind."

"I'm sure", said Doctor 2.

The First eyed them warily, then went back to work. The Doctor's didn't make a move, but he kept an eye on them nonetheless.

It happened in a flash, before he could do anything. One of the Doctors jumped on him, and the other went for the control panel.

The First threw Doctor 2 from his shoulders with an ease that belied his frail form, and he grabbed Doctor 1's arm.

"Don't", came a voice from behind him.

The First turned, and found himself facing the Doctor he'd left at his other base.

"You!" he yelled. "Don't interfere!"

The Doctor saw his counterpart shake his head.

"No, I'll leave you to it", he said.

"Good! You do that!" said the First.

He turned back to his control panel, letting Doctor 1 go.

The other Doctors ran back, standing well away. This seemed odd to the First, but he didn't trouble himself with it. He turned back to his console. The little screen on his console showed the status of the hyper regression device.

TEMPORAL RELOCATION IN 40 SECONDS AND COUNTING.

The First allowed himself to breath easier. He had done it. He had saved his universe. The cost had been horrendous, but he saved it nonetheless. Like he had done a thousand times before.

TEMPORAL RELOCATION IN 36 SECONDS AND COUNTING.

He turned to the other Doctors. He felt he owed them this.

"I am sorry for this", he said. "I am truly sorry. But this universe is my home, and I must save it, at any cost."

"We understand", said the Doctor. "We would do the same in your position."

The First smiled. He knew his successors/alternate selves would see the meaning behind his actions. He turned back to his console.

TEMPORAL RELOCATION IN 21 SECONDS AND COUNTING.

ALERT ALERT TEMPORAL INSTABILITY DETECTED TEMPORAL RELOCATION CO-ORDINATES HAVE BEEN ALTERED TARGET AREA 4 MILES IN DIAMETER ALERT ABORT PROCEDURE ABORT ABORT ABORT...

The First looked at the screen. The other Doctors had betrayed him! He tried to abort the procedure, but all that came up was –

ABORT SYSTEM HAS FAILED EVACUATE AREA EVACUATE AREA 10 SECONDS TO TEMPORAL RELOCATION 10 9 8 7...

The First spun around to look at his counterparts, but they were gone.

"NOOOOOOO!!" he yelled, as the hyper regression consumed him and the whole building in a temporal shockwave.

* * *

The Doctors said goodbye shortly after. Since there were so many of them, this was a lengthy task. They'd all had amazing adventures. Three Doctor's had inadvertently released a Dalek army from a bunker, two more had stopped a Cyberman plot to conquer all known galaxies. And the gang who'd stopped the First Universes Doctor had been given pats on the back, smiles, congratulations and celebrations.

"Goodbye", Sherlock Doctor had said to Martha and her Doctor. "I have a guest to deal with."

"Bye, then", the Doctor had replied, shaking his counteparts hand.

Darth Doctor had smiled, and in a final bit of 'help' for his counterpart, gave him the name of a good Top Shop in Wales.

And the other Doctor and Sophie had said an emotional farewell, bidding the Doctor and Martha safe travels.

The Doctor ushered Martha into the TARDIS. Doctor's would be here for hours yet, saying hello, goodbye, what on Earth are you wearing etc... but he was done here. He went inside the TARDIS, and it slowly dematerialised from planet Hell.

* * *

--

Martha and the Doctor were discussing the 'temporal relocation'.

"It would have meant that the Null Time Rifts were forced forward," explained the Doctor. "They would be sent to the future."

"So are all the people who were killed by the Rifts going to come back?" asked Martha.

"No", said the Doctor. "The Null Time Rifts did attack. Most people won't remember them, apart from Time Sensitives, but the dead won't come back. There is no miracle bring back."

He looked forlorn for a moment, then smiled at her.

"Anyway", he said. "I believe we were having a holiday on Ieh-mo Kei..."

He set the controls, and they were off.


	8. Never the End

The holiday on Ieh-mo kei was over. The TARDIS was in need of a serious refuel, and te Doctor knew just the place.

"Cardiff!" he said.

"Cardiff?" Martha repeated, slightly put out.

"Ah but, the thing about Cardiff - it's built on a rift in time and space - just like," the Doctor rattled his brains for something that would fit, then it clicked, "...California on the San Andreas Fault. But the rift bleeds energy, and the TARDIS can use it as fuel."

"So it's a pit stop," Martha commented.

"Exactly. Should only take twenty seconds" he looked at the scanner results, and was quite surprised, but he hid it as well as he could. "The rift's been active..."

Martha's eyes widened, and she suddenly spokje up again.

"Wait a minute..." she said, "they had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple of years ago, was that you?

The Doctor smiled, as the memory surfaced. Him, in that odd Ninth Incarnation of his, Rose... Jack...

"Bit of trouble with the Slitheen," he said out loud. "Long time ago. Lifetimes -- I was a different man back then "

He looked at the readout, and grinned.

"There we go, all powered up!" he said. He lloked at the scanner and saw - him. Jack. On impulse, he pulled the lever, hoping that his old friend wouldn't get to them in time.

Then, the TARDIS juddered. The Doctor looked at the readouts in shock - that was impossible...

* * *

The Doctor flicked a switch, pressed a button, and spun a wheel, and grinned at Sophie raffishly.

"Where are we going?" asked Sophie, somewhat excited by his manner.

"I don't know", said the Doctor. "I've fitted a randomiser to the console. For one trip only, I will have NO control over the TARDIS' destination."

"One trip only?" said Sophie smugly. "Sounds more like every trip."

The Doctor glared at her, then straightened up proudly.

"As it happens," he said, somewhat sniffily, "I usually have perfect control over the TARDIS' destinations, but I thought that was getting a little boring, so I've fitted the randomiser."

He flicked a switch, and the scanner came to life.

"Ah, hello..." he said . "We appear to be heading for..."

"Where?" asked Sophie.

"A little planet I'm sure I've seen before. Probably another holiday resort come to think of it. Ah well", he said. "One can never have too many holidays."

The TARDIS materialised.

"New worlds, new horizons, new stars", said the Doctor.

"Is that your motto?" smirked Sophie.

The Doctor stood up.

"No, my motto is 'today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday'", said the Doctor. "Good, innit?"

He had changed into a silver pinstripe suit, a shirt and a tie, rounded off with some converse all stars.

"What does that mean?" asked Sophie, confused.

"I have no idea", said the Doctor. "It just sounds good."

Laughing, the two of them exited the TARDIS.

And found ten armed men aiming their weapons at them.

The leader of this band addressed them. He was tall, thin, and glared at them suspisciously.

"You two are in a hell of a lot of trouble." he said.

* * *

Major General Jack Harkness woke up on the floor of the TARDIS.

"What happened?" he asked, not talking to anyone in paticular.

"Oh, a bit of loose circuitry sparked and hit you", came a voice from across the room. "You were knocked out by the charge."

Jack stood up.

"Doctor?" he asked.

"Yep", came the reply. The Doctor was controlling his TARDIS. All seemed well with the world.

"What happened?" Jack asked. "Did we win?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor smiled. "The omniverse is safe."

"Good", said Jack. "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you back to the Eye of Orion", said the Doctor. "Your men are probably wondering where their commander is."

"Oh", said Jack. Truth was, he was rather dissappointed...

Stop it Jack, he thought sharply.. You have responsibilities. Though this Doctor guy is quite cute.

"I thought we could take the scenic route", continued the Doctor. "You know, stop off at Barcelona to have a holiday, pop by Mahstotto Major to visit the Great High Ones."

The Doctor looked up at Jack.

"Interested?" he asked.

"Are you serious?" asked Jack.

"Oh yes", said the Doctor. "Deadly serious."

Jack didn't even need to think about it. He jumped for joy.

"Yeah, I'm interested!" he cried. "Where are we going first?"

"Well, I don't know", said the Doctor. "I think I'll leave that up to you, Jack."

Jack walked up to the console. He punched in some co-ordinates, and off they went.

Jack put his very best Humphrey Bogart voice on.

"Doc", he said. "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

The Doctor looked at him.

"I'm sure it could", he said. "Just don't call me 'Doc'".

Jack smiled as the two set off into another big adventure. Who knew where they'd end up...?

* * *

In the early years of existence, the first universe died.

This is fact.

The death of this universe caused the Hyper big bang, causing the creation of thousands of universes.

This is fact.

These universes owe their timelines to the echoes of the first universe, spreading across all history's, the echo changing as it travels, across the great void.

This is fact.

But there is a rumour, a rumour that spread out across the omniverse, that this universe was almost saved.

One man stood against the darkness, trying to save his universe before being consumed by the Null Time Rifts.

That man was called the Doctor.

And tales of the Doctor spread across the omniverse, so that in the end, every universe had one.

In some, he is a near - immortal Time Lord.

In some he is a magician, a sorcerer, and a noble adviser to the greatest kings.

And in some he is just a frail old man, a human, who wanted to see the cosmos and built a machine capable of doing so, and became the champion of the universe.

But one thing remains the same. Whoever he is, whatever his name or his aspect, the omniverse owes it's very existence to the Doctor.

We owe him everything, and we can be sure of one thing.

He will always be here to protect us.

THE DOCTOR NEVER LOSES.


End file.
